Nofsinger outruns them all

Standouts often play both offense and defense in high school football. It's more and more prevalent the smaller the school.

Waynedale junior Thad Nofsinger usually played just one side of the ball this season, but he did it better than any running back in the area this fall and in his school's history.

Nofsinger racked up a school-record 2,005 yards rushing, capped by a gutsy final 1 1/2 games on a badly sprained foot, to earn the 2007 Daily Record Football Player of the Year Award.

"It's an honor to be player of the year overall," said Nofsinger, a 5-foot-11, 200-pound powerhouse, who had the speed to run by tacklers and power to bowl them over. "I didn't play much defense, so just getting it based on offense, that's pretty cool.

"The talent of our league is always up there, so getting named this is pretty sweet."

Waynedale coach Matt Zuercher had the luxury of having depth and experience on defense, which allowed the Bears to keep Nofsinger fresher by playing mainly offense. They also wanted to limit his wear and tear after he had battled injuries in previous seasons.

Nofsinger finished as the area's regular-season rushing champ with 1,648 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns on 209 carries. That effort helped the Bears to a co-title in the Wayne County Athletic League and the Div. V playoffs.

It also got Nofsinger thinking in the back of his mind that he had a chance at bettering Josh Hendrix's school-record 2,003 yards rushing set in 2003.

"After the (Week 10) game I thought to myself at one point that if we make it two games in the playoffs I'd have to average about 185 yards a game to get it," Nofsinger said. "I thought, 'That's gonna be hard.'

"After Northwestern, I was like, 'hmmm, this is gonna be a little closer than I thought.'"

That's because Nofsinger exploded for 277 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 41 carries in the Bears' playoff-opening 19-7 win over Northwestern.

That put Nofsinger 79 yards away from breaking Hendrix's record, but that mark became about the last thing on his mind.

Nofsinger suffered what he said felt like a broken foot early in the second half against the Huskies. Even though he just sat out a few plays and wound up getting about 100 more yards on the bad wheel, the injury swelled up on him the next day. He was forced to wear a protective boot until the day before the second-round game against Youngstown Ursuline.

"I taped it up real good that Thursday before Ursuline and just practiced offense," Nofsinger said. "Then Friday, we were just hoping there wouldn't be a lot of pain.

"It wound up feeling pretty good with the adrenaline kicking in. It was nice."

Ursuline, which will play Columbus Ready in the Div. V state semifinals tonight, was impressed with the Bears' toughness but still beat them 29-6.

Afterwards, Zuercher consoled his players on a fine season and lifted Nofsinger's spirits by reminding him of the record. The junior had 80 yards against the Irish and broke it by a mere two stripes.

Zuercher could not be more proud of the way Nofsinger performed this season.

"He's a warrior, like a lot of my players," Zuercher said. "That was a badly sprained foot he had, but he wasn't going to miss those games. He wanted to be out there for his team.

"He gave us everything he had and our running game was effective in the first half against Ursuline. It just got tough when we fell behind in the second half."

Nofsinger picked up his 2,005 yards on 266 attempts and finished the season with 24 TDs. He stands a good chance at breaking Hendrix's career rushing record of 3,215 yards as a senior next year.

NFL running backs often reward their blockers with expensive gifts, but Nofsinger joked he's "too poor" to even take his linemen out to Taco Bell.

Instead, he said he always tries to thank them after every play.

"They did really good this year," Nofsinger said, "We were undersized by every team.

"There might have been one team where we went in as the bigger team, but they stepped up and blocked their man across from them and I was just smart enough to see the cut and go. ... (Fullback) Jared Neff did a great job blocking, too, and so did the receivers."

The offseason began with Nofsinger resting his foot in what he calls his "moon boot."

However, he can't wait to start training again for next year.

"I think we should be real good again," said Nofsinger, who was joined on the All-DR first team by classmates Sean and James Rutt and Steve Eyring. Quarterback Travis Suppes was also a junior.

We have some linemen who were ineligible that will be coming back," Nofsinger said. "We're gonna make them hit the books. We could be looking good."

This season the potential Zuercher and so many others saw in Nofsinger was realized. Now, the Bears are looking forward to what their star runner and the rest of the team can do for an encore. Maybe Nofsinger will even play more defense.

Aaron Dorksen can be reached at (330) 287-1621 or adorksen@the-daily-record.com

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